A devotee has encountered a dilemma after accidentally dropping his iPhone into the temple’s offering box.
This incident took place at the Sri Kandaswamy Temple in Thiruporur.
Despite his requests for its return, the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR & CE) department has stated that the phone now belongs to “God” and the temple as per tradition and rules.
Did he get back his iPhone?
After opening the offering box, the temple administration contacted him, saying the gadget was found in the hundial and he could only retrieve the data from it. However, the man refused to accept and insisted that his phone be returned to him.
When this issue was brought to the attention of HR & CE Minister P K Sekar Babu on Saturday, he replied, “Anything that is deposited into the offering box, even if it be an arbitrary action, goes into God’s account.”
“As per the practises and tradition at the temples, any offerings made into the hundial directly goes into the account of the deity of that temple. Rules do not permit the administration to return the offerings back to the devotees,” Babu told reporters.
This incident is not the first of its kind in the state. According to a senior HR & CE official, a devotee, S. Sangeetha from Alappuzha in Kerala, accidentally dropped her 1.75-sovereign gold chain into the hundial of the renowned Sri Dhandayuthapani Swamy Temple in Palani in 2023.
